


somebody to someone

by ivettxwrites



Series: Halbarry Week 2019 [2]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/M, HalBarry Week, Halbarry Week 2019, Soulmate AU, featuring one of my favorite halbarry interactions, i have to admit shamefully that it took me much longer to figure out soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 09:57:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20240968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivettxwrites/pseuds/ivettxwrites
Summary: The Flash is running to investigate his latest case at the city limits. When he's wrapped to look like a green burrito and his soulmark starts to itch (actually burn), Barry wonders if his soulmate can wait until he's apprehended the villian and saved the day from potential catastrophe.





	somebody to someone

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thanks to Lyssa, who is not only the best beta reader, but also the greatest friend, who keeps helping me pace myself and create schedules. Cassie is awesome for finally getting me to settle on a title that's appropriate for Soulmate AU and cheering me on through this week. 
> 
> Day 2 of HalBarry Week 2019 is the prompt Soulmate! It's shorter than yesterday, but it's still sweet. To anyone who notices the actual comic book quote used in this: you have my entire ass heart.

Admittedly, not the best way to meet your soulmate. 

  
  


Barry’s soulmark itches when it happens. He wonders briefly if that hot, uncomfortable crawl of his skin is  _ at all _ like what Jay described as the best moment of his life whenever he was asked about the time he met Joan. It certainly doesn’t seem like that to Allen right now. 

  
  


The Flash huffs, annoyed, and wiggles around in his prison. It just so happens that he has no real time to waste, and that this green  _ whatever _ is making his job very hard that night. 

  
  


He had been following up on a lead just outside the Central City city limits when something--or rather someone--had stopped him altogether. His feet had been pulled out from under him and as he saw the ground coming to meet him, he was wrapped in what he could only describe as a green  _ blanket _ , effectively cutting short his movements. He doesn’t hit the earth, but he’s still displeased and annoyed. 

  
  


As Barry turns blue eyes to stare up at the culprit, however, that’s when he feels that familiar spot in his hip start burning insistently. Allen had never given his soulmark (a bunch of what he could only call  _ squiggly _ lines, but that his best friend insisted was art) much of a second thought, especially not after becoming the Flash, and now here he was. Meeting his soulmate, feeling grumpy about it, and ready to sonic-punch whoever this bastard was. 

  
  


“Oh, for fucks sake,” the other man rubs absently at a spot under his ribcage, and Barry wonders if his squiggly lines match his own or are different somehow, “now’s not the time.” 

  
  


Barry hates vibrating out of things, if only because it took him months to figure it out, but he still pushes out of the green blanket and flashes behind the man dressed in green, “ _ I’d _ say, nightlight. I don’t exactly have the time for this.” 

  
  


“ _ Nighlight _ ?” the man’s voice goes an octave higher (at least Barry thinks its an octave, Hartley could tell much better) and he whirls around in confusion, the white spaces of his mask wide as saucers in what Barry assumes is surprise, “I’m  _ sorry _ how did you even get out of there?” 

  
  


Barry shrugs, because if this man doesn’t know by now who he is, then there’s no real use in explaining the careful science behind vibrating his molecules through solids, “Science,” he says simply, “do you think we can put a pin in this and come back to it later? I’m in the middle of something.” 

  
  


That middle of something is probably already being shipped off as they speak, which is why Barry really has to go, but the man seems intent on  _ not letting that happen _ . As the Flash turns on his heels to continue the path he had been taking towards the underground warehouse he was supposed to be raiding, another green construct appears in front of him, effectively cutting off his path. 

  
  


He huffs, annoyed, and tries to ignore the increasingly hot sensation on his hip--fuck destiny for tonight, “You do know I can just phase through this, right?” 

  
  


Another three walls appear around him, effectively casing him, like some sort of  _ animal _ . Barry is of the opinion that this is getting ridiculous. They could catch up and reveal their secret identities  _ later _ , not in the middle of an ongoing investigation. One that Barry presumes is actually highly dangerous and has to do with a time-machine, but he can’t really say that right now, can he? 

  
  


“I don’t care,  _ scarlet _ ,” the man bites back--Barry thinks he hears that annoying Californian drawl that he knows from Green Arrow and wonders if all green-based heroes are from the Golden State, “I think we oughta talk about this, don’t you think?” 

  
  


Barry rolls his eyes, pulls his cowl back to reveal his face, “There,” he says, as if the action itself was enough to appease the other man, “Barry Allen, from Central City. You know who I am now, so can I just run out to take care of my business?” 

  
  


“You ain’t even gonna ask who I am?” 

  
  


The Flash huffs. The walls seem pretty easy to just vibrate through, but he really hates doing that. It makes him feel all gooey for a while, and he’s still reeling from escaping the green blanket he was put in earlier. If he can avoid going through the walls, he’ll do it, even if it means indulging this weird, overeager superhero.

  
  


“Okay, I’ll bite,” Barry says, “who are you? What’s with the green get-up? Are you stealing Arrow’s schtick?”

  
  


The nightlight seems even more offended by that than the previous nickname, which says some things about Green Arrow, Barry supposes, “If  _ I’m _ stealing Ollie’s schtick?” Barry winces at the off-handed way the other man throws a teammate’s identity out into the open, even when Barry has known Oliver Queen for a couple of years now, “If anything, he’s out there stealing  _ my _ schtick! It’s not like this  _ thing _ comes with a color picker!” 

  
  


Whatever  _ thing _ he’s talking about, the Flash really doesn’t want to know, but he promised he’d bite, if only if it’d get him out of here sooner. 

  
  


“Okay!” Barry exclaims, “Just tell me who you are already!” 

  
  


The man’s mask snuffs out of existence and Barry berates himself for thinking briefly that at least his soulmate is handsome. Shaking the thoughts about the man’s freckles away, the Flash throws his hands in the air, exasperated. 

  
  


“I’d appreciate an explanation!” 

  
  


“Unbelievable,” the green-clad hero says, and the four walls shimmer out of their place as his feet touch the ground, “you don’t know who I am in or out of the suit. I can’t believe it. Do you live under a  _ rock _ or something?” 

  
  


“You’re just a dude with great hair,” Barry shrugs, getting his cowl back into place, “Am I getting an explanation or can I just leave?” 

  
  


“I’m a Green Lantern,” he finally says, “my name is Hal Jordan.” 

  
  


Hal Jordan’s some hot-shot pilot that had been recently seen working with Tony Stark and that had been involved in some scandal or the other concerning his employer. Barry didn’t follow the tabloids, but Iris spent last week talking about it non-stop over dinner. Something something, secret affair, something something? He was sure it went something like that. 

  
  


Barry, however, chooses to zero in on the other thing, cocking his head to one side like Clint does when he can’t quite understand what he’s saying, “By  _ choice _ ?” 

  
  


“You know what?” Hal crosses his arms across his chest, his mask glimmering back into place, “Just go do whatever you were supposed to be doing.” 

  
  


Barry grins and does just that. 

  
  


// 

  
  


There’s thankfully no time-machine actually constructed and Flash makes it in time (hah!) to avoid some C-tier villain from taking the components to a different location. It would’ve been a bother to go looking for them all over again, so it was nice that Barry was still on time, all things considered. 

  
  


He calls Central City police because it’s still in their jurisdiction, and waits until Officer Landon is pushing said C-tier villain into his cop car and Detective Singh has taken the case from his hands. Barry’s about to run back to his own apartment, before a distinctive pair of brown eyes and freckles stop him just beyond the yellow tape. 

  
  


“Ready to have that talk?” Hal Jordan is not wearing his Green Lantern uniform anymore, instead choosing a simple white t-shirt with the Stark logo underneath a well-loved, brown leather jacket. 

  
  


The man would look the perfect picture of relaxed if it weren’t for the tension line of his shoulders and the way he keeps rubbing at that same spot under his ribcage. While Barry had managed to completely set aside the burning sensation, Jay  _ had _ told him before that the ache only leaves when you finally come in contact with your soulmate. 

  
  


Careful, so as to not make Hal uncomfortable, the Flash raises his hand to brush his fingers against the back of Jordan’s own hand, still resting under his chest. The aching sensation turns softer, dimming until it’s just a quiet thrill sitting at his hip, and Barry sighs, offering a shaky smile. 

  
  


“Sorry about the--uh,” Barry can’t find the words, bringing his hand back to his side, “Back there--I wasn’t--I had to come here and I just--I’m  _ sorry _ .” 

  
  


Hal smiles at him, unsure, still tense, but it’s something, “It’s fine,” he says, “you wanna race back to Central? I know a diner just on 3rd and Holmes. My friend and I go there all the time.” 

  
  


“Stork Diner!” Barry’s too excited for his own good, “My twin and I love that place!” 

  
  


“So,” Hal turns both sides, making sure none of the cops are looking at him, and he powers up his suit once again, hitting the ground to hover a few feet above the Flash, “race ya?” 

  
  


Barry grins, giddy, and thinks maybe his soulmate isn’t all that bad, “You’re on,  _ nightlight _ .” 

**Author's Note:**

> So, the fun tidbits about this fic: 
> 
> \- I originally wanted to do something a little bit longer and link it with Stony week, which was earlier this year and also had a Soulmate AU prompt that I wanted to exploit. Since I couldn't do that because I'm easily distracted, I still managed to sneak Tony in because that's just what I do to every single work I've ever created. This is also an AU of Room Enough AU, if you squint. 
> 
> \- Soulmates work curiously in this AU, by which I mean I have absolutely no idea how it all works. I just know Hal and Barry have symbols on their skins that somehow match each other to create a pretty picture and that it will burn until you come into contact with your soulmate. There are also different kinds of soulmates and Hal actually has two marks (something that stayed from the earlier version of this work): Barry is Hal's romantic soulmate, while Tony is Hal's platonic soulmate. Tony is probably threatened by Barry in Hal's life but the truth is he doesn't really have to worry because Hal has enough love to give. 
> 
> \- Stork Diner makes a goddamn appearance in EVERYTHING now, and I'm not even sorry. Also, I know I said it's a Room Enough AU AU, but like: Clint and Barry being twins? It's more likely than you think. This universe is probably something between REAU and another AU that's supposed to come out in HalBarry week, as well. 
> 
> \- The title is from "Someone to You" by BANNERS which I absolutely recommend. Shout out to Cassie again for the recommendation.


End file.
